With the introduction of mobile communication devices, people have become quite accustomed to communicating with others at any place and time. Thus, a user can discuss activities that are scheduled for a future time but not be in a position to take note of the activity or its date. For example, an employee can be on their way to work when they receive an important call on their mobile phone from their boss. The boss can inform them that there are several meetings today and during the week. The employee agrees to support these meetings, but due to a desire not to keep their boss online too long, they do not inform him that they need to stop, find a pen and paper and write down the times and dates of the meetings.
Instead, the employee attempts to memorize the meeting schedules and write them down when they arrive at the office. Depending on the number of meetings and dates, this can likely lead to a forgotten meeting and associated ramifications. In other scenarios, people are often pre-occupied with other interests while communicating and do not even realize that they have agreed to perform a task. For example, a teenager, while listening to music, attempts to hold a conversation with their parent and agrees to take out the garbage and clean up their room. This part of the conversation is typically quickly forgotten unless reminded by the parent after the fact. Thus, often, especially in casual conversations, people forget or remember incorrectly tasks that they have mentioned or agreed to do. The ramifications of forgetting these tasks can range from a minor inconvenience (teenager yelled at by their parents) to a major impact (employee forgets client meeting and loses large client for business).